Clary’s big down under

When the UK’s reigning Queen Mother of camp Julian Clary turned 50 in 2009, he celebrated by embarking on his first stand-up tour for six years, Lord of the Mince.

As Clary told the Star Observer from his home in countryside Kent (he’d just retu

rned from a holiday “eating pavlova in Majorca” — as gay a pastime as you’re likely to find), bringing the show to Australia last year was a particular treat.

“My vulgarity is welcomed Down Under. I can get into trouble in England quite easily if I say the wrong thing, so it’s always a relief to get to Australia,” he said.

And after filming a guest spot on Neighbours in 2007, Clary is virtually an honorary Australian citizen.

“Well, I was only on for about 30 seconds, but I did feel honoured. It was, as we say in the mother country, a cheap thrill.”

Lord of the Mince has just been released in Australia on DVD and, based on his performance, Clary doesn’t seem to have mellowed with age.

“Really, nothing much has changed. I have a history with the audience now, and I feel a sense of affection between us — the sort of thing you get when you laugh for a long time.

“But it’s the same camp old nonsense it always was. That’s never going to change.”

He even gets about on rollerblades for one portion of the show — a disaster waiting to happen, surely?

“I’m alright on the rollerblades until I get to a sloping stage,” he laughed.

“But after 150 shows, I never did come a cropper and end up in the orchestra pit.”

Clary’s six-year stand-up sabbatical came about as he turned his attention to literary pursuits: he’s penned three books in that time, including his 2005 autobiography A Young Man’s Passage.

Another book is due later this year, but he admitted that touring Lord of the Mince had reignited his passion for performance.

“I’m taking a break at the moment, but thinking about the next tour as well. I thought my touring days were over, but it turns out it’s the meaning of life for me, really.

“I don’t think I’ll ever not tour now. I want to just carry on until the end.”

That’s surely a fair way off, considering Clary doesn’t seem to have aged much during his more than two decades in the spotlight. Makeup does hide a multitude of sins, but does he have any other beauty secrets he’d like to share?

“Don’t be fooled, it is all an illusion. I don’t mind getting older. I don’t see any point in going under the knife and looking 25 again. I will admit I am no stranger to the Botox needle, but I haven’t had anything radical done.”

Are Botox’s face-freezing properties really a wise move for a funnyman like Clary?

“Well, it’s the audience’s faces that need to be moving, not mine. I don’t laugh at my own jokes — I’m not Billy Connolly!”

info: Julian Clary: Lord of the Mince out now on DVD.